Tickets, parking lot, Restroom, food, all good things to know before you get there!
The experience at the Houston Rodeo 2024 (27Feb – 17Mar 2024) was marred by long waits everywhere. We spent 15 minutes paying for parking, another 15 finding a spot, and another 15 in line for the free tram to the gate. Inside, it took 20 minutes to use the restroom and a whopping 30 minutes waiting for food. Even the tram back to our car took another 20 minutes to wait!!!
Here are some tips we picked up:
1. We parked in the Yellow Parking Lot, which cost $25 before tax (total $27.06).
2. There are other lots like Blue, Red, GREEN Suite and Purple, but they seemed underused. We had no ideas about these parking lots.
3. Remember your parking spot number after parking in the Yellow lot.
4. The FREE TRAM line was very long, almost reaching the gate. We were near the end of the line! We waited to be seated for 15 minutes for a ride that only lasted 3-4 minutes!
Tim asked the guy behind us if he had been there before. He said yes, so Tim asked, ‘Do you know how far it is to walk from here to the gate?’ He said, ‘Maybe 3 miles???‘
Based on the 4-minute slow tram ride, I think it’s only about half a mile to walk!
I told Tim that next time, he needs to choose someone who looks like they are physically fit for walking!
5. Buying tickets online saved us $5 each compared to walk-in prices. (https://www.rodeohouston.com/tickets/ You have to set up account and download “axs” app).
6. A good and clean restroom is located in the hall where they have the market/livestock show. Remember, if you see the first restroom with a long line, skip that one and walk to another one. There will be a shorter line away from the main entrance!
7. You can find the same food options again if you keep walking! They offer items like turkey legs, corn, popcorn, drinks, etc. They pretty much have duplicate food shops for these items. Tim and I waited for 30 minutes for one turkey leg. After I got the turkey leg, we walked a little farther and found another identical shop with no line!
I tried Aqua frescas for the first time at Michelaquas!
Aguas frescas are light non-alcoholic beverages made from one or more fruits. It’s the drink of summer! Today I picked watermelon; it’s hard to go wrong with watermelon! They served it in a big jar, and they asked if I wanted it topped with a spicy sauce called “chamoy,” which tastes like tamarind mixed with salt and chili powder to me. The watermelon juice is not overly sweet, making it quite refreshing. And guess what? The best part of this drink is the chamoy sauce on top of the jar!
Maybe it’s because I’m Asian?!?! But you can also ask for it with or without the chamoy sauce as well.
8. Exiting the parking lot can be tricky; follow your entry path.
In the end, Tim enjoyed the experience, but it’s not something he would do every year. He mentioned that at least he has been there and now knows about the Rodeo.
As for me, I think I’m too old for it. The round trip from our house takes 3 hours to drive, and we spent a lot of time waiting in lines. Overall, it was almost a full day trip for me (from 11 am to 6 pm).
We visited during the daytime (1-4 pm), and there were a lot of kids screaming and crying as if they were being chased by zombies LOL.
The most enjoyable part for me was walking around the livestock area; they have beautiful and healthy cows. I would like to come back to see the bull riding event.
Before I went to the Rodeo, I tried to watch YouTube, but I didn’t find one with the information I needed to know.
There are three more days left for the 2024 Houston Rodeo, and I hope you find this useful for your Rodeo experience as well. But if you miss the Rodeo this year, I hope you can use this idea to prepare yourself for next year, unless they do a better job with the lines!
Cost Breakdown for 2 of us: (price with tax)
Online Rodeo Ground tickets (just for walking around, no show, no concert) $42
Yellow Parking lots $27.06
Steak sandwich platter with potato $23.82
Funnel cake $10.83
Turley leg $20
Drink $16
Total $139.71 without the transportation cost (we rode our car)
